Best of the Box

Enough dying and killing for Jesus … let’s just see what the Best of the Box posts were for the last week, as selected by me from the MA box listings. If your favorite was skipped, you can always submit it in the comments. Go leave a comment at one or two of this week’s overachievers.

Founders – Nothing is really jumping out at me, so I’m going with Don’t Be So Cliquish! at Nine Moons. It’s a good reminder — no one likes to be left out and I’ll bet we all offend a few of the unintentionally excluded without even knowing about it. About 9Moons: I’ve been watching the comment box and there is a lot of traffic here. The shifting banners thing must be having a subliminal impact. Check. New. Banner.

Mainland – Always the toughest choice to make. Hats off to M* for posting an interview with Richard L. Bushman, with questions posed by Jed Woodworth, who Bushman in the RSR Preface described as “my collaborator on this book.” Quick quote: When asked why he didn’t commit himself in RSR on some of the more controversial questions in that period of LDS history, Bushman said: “I see no reason to solve problems that cannot be solved. When you go beyond the evidence, you get in trouble. Premature closure leads to error.”

Isles of the Sea – I am tempted by a couple of Clark’s philosophy posts, but I’ll go with Devils and Activism at FMH. It opens with a quote from one of my favorites, Conrad, about strong devils versus weak devils. I’m going to save that quote for my “quotes to use in Sunday School” file. I guess that makes me a weak devil. A strong devil would nail it to the door of the chapel.

More Islands – I’ll go with A Soft Answer … as a complete experience. He doesn’t really blog, he just links and accumulates in a colorful fashion. The Letterman missionary photo at the top of the queue is a must-see. Nice photos of LDS chainsaw brigades down South. With its many links to Mormon bloggers who don’t post (very often) on LDS topics, ASA is a good reminder that Mormon blogging extends well beyond the Bloggernacle: There’s The Sub Report; This Divided State; Joe’s Place (who looks like just a regular guy until you read that he’s in the running for a spot on the Mo Tab Choir). Oh, and one great post hiding down the queue: Church’s Policy Positions Are Not Doctrine.

Even More Islands – Mormons and Evolution ran a great two-part series: A Tale of Two Letters, Part 1 and Part 2. M&E is the B’nacle’s “all evolution, all the time” channel, but these are two posts you really should read. I’m not fond of the result the two letters arrived at, but they are surprisingly well-crafted and conciliatory. Maybe I’m speculating, but I catch a hint in the letters that JFS recognized this was a no-win situation for all concerned.

Preach It:

Comments

Thanks for the M&E reference. I can’t help but wonder what you meant about not being fond of the result. I thought I left it with a bit of a “you decide” ending–did you want to see a stronger conclusion?

Jared, I meant I was not fond of the result the letters arrived at, not the result the posts arrived at. The posts were, I thought, quite evenhanded. I’ll go back and change the wording in the post so it doesn’t confuse other readers.